Florida Catholic | Reconciliation: ‘Come back to me with all your heart … ’

Reconciliation: ‘Come back to me with all your heart … ’

FATHER PAUL PHILIBERT | SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA CATHOLIC

Published: 03.07.08

Yes, above all, recognize that even more than liturgies, God seeks happy lives; even more that fasting,
God seeks
generous
hearts.”

VENICE | In Lent, the liturgy calls us again and again to conversion and to reconciliation. Over and over we pray during this season for the forgiveness of our sins: “Have mercy on me, Lord, for I have sinned.”

Both the readings and the prayers of the season of Lent remind us that the means for arriving at a new depth of understanding about our relation to God are prayer, fasting and the sharing of our resources with the poor.

All of this is so familiar that sometimes it is disconcerting to the faithful to be barraged endlessly with these themes. It is ironic, perhaps, that those who hear all this most frequently are the faithful who go to daily Mass and try to concentrate on the true meaning of Lent. They may wonder, what exactly are these sins for which I must repent?

The word reconciliation means putting things back in harmony. There is a layer of truth that underlies the whole question of sin and penance. It is the truth about who God is and who we are.

Christ speaks to us in many ways, especially in and through the church. For this reason he declared, “He who hears you, hears me” (Lk 10:16).

The church considers individual confession and absolution to be the only ordinary way for persons aware of serious sin to be reconciled with God and the church. This individual confession and absolution may be preceded by a prayer service, but the prayer service does not negate the necessity of the individual confession and absolution.

The most fundamental reality about Lent is God’s desire for us to awaken to three things.

First, God is reality with a capital R — not only our Creator, but our sustainer; not only our provider, but our friend.

Second, God seeks intimacy with us not just by way of our formal prayers and liturgies, but at the heart of life. God wants our friendship when we are relaxed, at work, at play and intensely involved with everything that is ordinary. God wants us to know him not as a forbidding, moralistic judge, but as a giver of gifts who remains present to the minds of those he loves.

Third, whatever list of sins we may itemize — the breaking of commandments, cruelty, jealousy, selfishness or whatever else — they fundamentally mean that we have forgotten the first two points. We have forgotten that we are God’s friends and that God expects us to be as generous with others as God is with us.

This is at the heart of reconciliation.

Those who most frequently hear the endless Lenten appeals to conversion may not be the ones with the longest list of sins, but they may be the ones most ready to realize what is at the heart of reconciliation. What God wants from us above all is our hearts.

The law of the church requires Catholics to make their confession during the season of Lent or Eastertide. In the light of this theme of reconciliation, we can see that what the church wants — and what God wants — most of all is for us to awaken to the power of love that is God’s reality in our lives.

“Come back to me with all your hearts; don’t let sin keep us apart.” Yes, above all, recognize that even more than liturgies, God seeks happy lives; even more that fasting, God seeks generous hearts.

Father Philibert is a priest with the Order of Preachers, Dominicans

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